


Botanical

by Owlship



Series: Lifelines (Soulmate Fics) [9]
Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Post-Canon, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-13
Updated: 2019-11-13
Packaged: 2021-01-29 23:02:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21418126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Owlship/pseuds/Owlship
Summary: The first time they fuck- the first time theytryto, anyway, mouths and hands hot, roaming under clothes, bodies pressing against one another's for every bit of friction they can get- the first time, Furiosa slides off her leathers and watches as Max takes one look at the plant marked across her thigh before bolting.
Relationships: Furiosa/Max Rockatansky
Series: Lifelines (Soulmate Fics) [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/296633
Comments: 9
Kudos: 140





	Botanical

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ravynfyre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravynfyre/gifts).

> A mini-commission for [Ravynfyre](https://ravynfyre.tumblr.com)! They wanted Maxiosa and either soulmates or wingfic, and I'm just sorry I couldn't fit them both into the same story.
> 
> I hope you like it!

The first time they fuck- the first time they _try_ to, anyway, mouths and hands hot, roaming under clothes, bodies pressing against one another's for every bit of friction they can get- the first time, Furiosa slides off her leathers and watches as Max takes one look at the plant marked across her thigh before bolting.

Surprise is swiftly overtaken with anger, and hurt, and she takes the time to tug her trousers up over her hips but not to step back into her boots before she's out the door following him.

She finds him in one of the meeting rooms, hands braced on the wide carved windowsill and breathing like all the air in the wastes won't be enough to fill his lungs. Furiosa finds her temper cooling at the sight.

"Was it so surprising that I'd have a soulmate?" she asks from far enough away that he can run again if he needs to. No reason to have him trapped with his back against the wall.

Max turns to her and blinks, his eyes rimmed red, the laces of his trousers still undone. He swallows, throat bobbing. "I, no," he says.

She tilts her head, waiting for him to finish his thought.

"It's acacia," he says.

She nods. "Motherumbah." She'd hated hearing it called that growing up, the way the elders of her clan had smiled like it was a joke, a sign of some sort from the universe. "We'll call you 'Rumbah' when you become a Mother," Senna used to say with a cackle. After the Citadel Furiosa clung to the name, if only in secret.

Max scrubs a palm over his chest, like rubbing away an ache.

She doesn't entirely understand his reaction- soulmates aren't common anymore, not with so many people dead who would have lived if only the world hadn't ended, but neither are they unheard of. Maybe it's one of his old-fashioned sensibilities kicking in, a reluctance to break up a supposedly universe-ordained match.

The floor of the meeting room is cool under her feet, bare stone and sand. This room has no door to shut; her back is facing the gaping void of the doorway, the hallway beyond, and the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"I didn't expect to see," he says, and she nods.

"I can cover it..." Furiosa says, even though the idea galls her. Why should she have to hide a part of herself? But for Max- there are more compromises she's willing to make for him than she wants to admit to herself. Her soulmate, whoever they are, is a stranger. Max is real, solid in front of her, a steady shoulder to rely on. A certainty, not a possibility.

But Max shakes his head and barks out, "No!"

She shifts her weight slightly, readies her stance to fight or flee, a purely instinctual reaction.

He licks his lips. "No," he repeats, softer. "Don't do that."

Furiosa takes a steady breath, in and out through her nose, filling her lower lungs. "Then what?" she asks, the words a burr in her throat.

He wavers side to side, adjusting his weight, and then grabs the front of his shirt and tugs it up.

There on the skin of his abdomen is an exact copy of the acacia plant on her own thigh.

Furiosa inhales a sharp breath and steps closer before she can stop herself, hand raising without her sending it any command. Max watches her with his stormy eyes, looking scared as hell but, she thinks, hopeful as well.

Her fingers trace the curve of a seed-pod and his skin jumps at the contact. The way it's positioned on her leg she gets a look at her marking every day, though she sees it upside-down, and there's no doubt that the mark on his stomach is a perfect match, down to each quivering flower petal and delicate fern-like leaf.

She drags her eyes away from the marking- his _soulmate mark_, because there's no doubt of that being a mere tattoo- to his face, fear blowing his pupils wide. Furiosa reaches with her left arm for his shoulder and he lets the shirt drop again, though her hand is still splayed out over his skin.

"I never day-dreamed about my soulmate," she says.

Max's throat clicks when he swallows.

"It wasn't important among the Vuvalini," she continues. "What matters is what you _choose_\- and Max, I chose you." She can hardly stand to look him in the eye for this, but he hasn't looked away, so she won't either. Furiosa tips her face forwards, noses brushing as she moves to press their foreheads together. One of his hands grabs the hem of her shirt, fisting the fabric like he's afraid she'll run if he lets go.

His breath stutters on its way out, but she can feel his chest filling smoothly on the next inhale. His eyes don't look away but they do slide shut, and then he's tilting his face up and kissing her, lips soft and beard a scratch against her skin.

Furiosa lets herself relax into the contact, body molding itself to his. But she hasn't forgotten the open doorway behind them, though no one's walked past, and she pulls away before very long.

"I'm choosing you, too," Max says, and she has to bury her smile in the curve of his neck, too unfamiliar with the vulnerability of such emotions as are filling her.


End file.
